Loan fears weigh on UAE banks

From Thepeninsulaqatar.com: If confirmation were needed of woes in the United Arab Emirates banking industry, Moody’s last week said it was considering downgrading the rating of HSBC Middle East, mainly due to the prospect of rising loan delinquencies in the UAE, its largest market.

HSBC Middle East said its charges for bad loans rose by five times to $280m last year because of a “significant” increase in consumer loan defaults, equivalent to about 1 percent of the bank’s regional loan book…..Full Article: Source